The Martian (with Indiana Jones) Chapter 7-27
by Jorge Perez
Summary: Indiana Jones continues to survive on Mars.
1. Chapter 7

Chapter 7- Sol 41

I managed to make contact today at last. I started sending a shit ton of messages to them, but I guess everyone must have gone home. I finally went to bed, and I awoke to an alarm. I got a new message.

"Henry! Are you there? Are you ok?"

The rest of my conversation went like this.

"I'm fine. My injuries have managed to heal, and I've been spending my time growing food and fixing the satellite. Not much else to do, I guess."

"You haven't gone out to the site?!"

"No, its against the rules for me to go there without the ok."

"Oh, God, you Boy Scout! If anyone has the right to go there it's you! The rest of us would screw up! Get over there, man! The rest of us here figured you'd have dug the crap out of it by now!"

"So, I have clearance?"

"No shit!"

"Well, I'll be on it in a few days."

"At the very least you're alive. That's all that matters. Now go do what you do best. Find out all you can about these ruins. That's an order."

So… that's what I'll be doing for the next few days. I'll report on sight. Now these reports will sync with NASA. Logging off.


	2. Chapter 8

Chapter 8- Sol 42

Well, now that I've gotten NASA's permission, I'm free to go and explore the site. Finally get to do what I came here for. In truth, I would have gone a lot sooner, but I guess the risk of dying if I wasn't careful kept me at bay.

I'll be heading out tomorrow. Currently getting my equipment ready. Digging tools, big and small, and my trusty whip. Obviously I don't have my gun. NASA would never let me bring it here (what's wrong with precaution?). More hurtful than that is not having my hat with me on the field. I have to settle for this helmet, but hey, it only saves my life. At least I get to wear it indoors. No books or notebooks out there, my notes will be in the form of audio logs and video recordings. Any books I might've needed are shown here on my helmet.

Good news on getting communication with NASA back though. My original crew consisted on some extra archaeologists who would've helped me here on site, as well as a pilot and overall commander. With them gone, I will now rely on the crew that I would've preferred to have come with: Sallah, Marcus, and Dad. For obvious reasons, they couldn't come. Sallah is not exactly a reliable guy on field (always comes through though, in the end). And Marcus and Dad, well, they're just old. Thankfully though, NASA has them back at base and they'll guide me through. This should be fun.


	3. Chapter 9

Chapter 9-Sol 43

"NASA this is Jones, approaching site now."

"Copy that Jones, patching through to your team."

"Good morning, Indy!" a loud, cheerful, Middle Eastern accented voice said.

"Good to hear from you, Sallah" I replied.

"Thank goodness you are alive, Indiana. Now, time to see what the fuss is about" a much older voice said.

"Thank you, Marcus. I'll definitely get this back to the museum."

"Now you be careful, Junior. It might be Mars but you can never know what's out there" another older, English accented voice said.

"Dad, don't call me Junior!"

"Well I can't call you Henry, that's me! And I refuse to call you after the dog."

A few chuckles followed the little bickering. Indiana Jones felt more comfortable than he had in weeks.

"Ok, finally arriving at a few mounds of sand. Can you guys see this?"

"The feed is fine, Indiana" Marcus replied.

"It's Junior."

"Dad!"

Indiana began to climb over the sand. His special suit allowed for maximum mobility. Other astronauts didn't have this luxury.

Indiana stood atop the mound. Despite the storm that had left him stranded, it was almost untouched. It was almost eerie how similar the site looked to the few pictures he had seen. He approached the large stones. They all had similar carvings.

"This look familiar to anyone?"

"The ancient Aztec calendars" Dad said. "They don't look like circles, but the circular patterns are there."

"Now what is something from central Mexico doing all the way on Mars?" Marcus asked.

"Indy, get closer to the rocks, examine their material." Sallah said.

Indiana approached the rocks. Sure enough, the rock was Martian.

"Sorry, Sallah, this rock isn't from Mexico"

"Damn, and I had a whole theory ready on how it could have gotten there."

"Love'd to hear it some day."

Indiana continued. At this point he was further than the crew that had originally discovered the site. His heart was pounding. He then noticed something on the ground.

"Hey… hey! A cave!"

Indiana began to climb down. Everything started to get dark. He turned on his helmets flashlight.

"Indiana, we're losing video feed" Marcus said.

"Can you still hear me?"

"Perfectly, but our screen are getting fuzzier."

"Damn, sorry guys. I'll describe everything as best as I can, I'll send you this whole recording when I get b-"

"Indy?"

"Indiana?"

"Junior!?"

No response.


	4. Chapter 10

Chapter 10- Sol 43 (2)

Several feet below the surface, Indiana Jones lay on the ground, unconscious. From his helmet voices could be heard from the radio. Slowly, he began to stir. His head ached terribly.

"Guys, I'm fine" he said in a slurred voice.

"What happened?" Marcus asked.

"I guess I fell through some loose sand. Guess I was expecting too much if I wanted this cave to be completely solid."

"Just like the time you ventured off from the boy scouts and-"

"Dad…"

"Or the time you wandered too far in the desert and-"

"Sallah! In case any of you care, I could have died! Luckily my helmet didn't crack. I landed on my side instead."

"Yes, very lucky" Dad said."Can you see anything?"

"Umm, yeah. Stalactites and the sort. What you would expect in a cave."

"Except bats" Dad said.

"Or snakes" Sallah chuckled.

Indiana shivered. That was a high point of being on Mars.

"I'm gonna keep on walking. If the signal lets up let me know."

Indiana started to head toward the lighter part of the cave. The blood red stone set him on edge. Nothing was welcoming. Indiana reached the light.

"Woah.."

"What?" Sallah, MArcus and Dad asked.

Indiana jones was suddenly immersed in a giant underground lake. Or rather, a frozen one. It was remarkably clear. The red cave suddenly had shades of blue streaking across it.

"It's… a frozen lake. It's beautiful."

"A lake? There's never been so much water discovered on Mars before" Marcus said.

"Well, then I guess it's safe to say there has been life there at some point" Sallah inquired.

"You mean living organisms, along the lines of humans." Dad corrected.

"We'll never know unless I go further" Indiana replied.

Indiana examined the lake. It was too big to around. He stepped carefully on the ice.

"Hard as a rock. Ok" he said to his team."I'm gonna see if I can walk across the lake. The ices seems to be stable."

"Be careful" they all replied.

The lake appeared to be a half mile in width. Indian began to slowly walk across. After a few minutes he reached the halfway mark. Somewhere along that point, his confidence grew, and he began to walk at a normal pace. The n faster, and faster, until he slipped and landed back first. Then there was a sudden crack.

"Uh oh."

The ice slowly began to crack more, until it began to swallow itself up. Indian hurried and lifted himself up and began running as fast as he could. The breaking ice began to catch up to him. He ran faster and faster until he could finally see the other side of the lake. At the last second he dived for the edge. He made it, and the cracking of the ice stopped.

"Great, I ruined something beautiful"

"You tend to do that" Dad said.


	5. Chapter 11

Chapter 11- Sol 43 (3)

Indiana Jones had just survived getting swallowed up by the beautiful frozen Martian lake. He looked on, ashamed, at what was left: a giant ice field.

"Come now, Indiana, let's keep moving. There's bound to be something else there" Marcus said.

After a moment, Indiana decided to move on.

"You're right, Marcus. This lake could have been the water source for whatever lived here. There's bound to be something else here."

Indiana saw an opening further ahead. It was more than big enough for him to fit through. He stepped in and looked around the room. He looked around and was oddly reminded of a bar. A long rectangular rock was in the center of the furthest wall. Other square rocks lay around in an organized fashion.

"I think I found the place where the inhabitants would get wasted" Indiana said."I found some type of lounge, but it reminds me more of a bar."

Indiana continued to look around. He found something on the ground.

"A… a jug!"

"What?!"

"And… it's not made of rock! Its...clay…"

An utter silence followed. More than ever, they knew that something had been living on Mars at one point.

"Indy, I suggest you keep going. Is there a door?" Sallah asked.

"There's an exit."

"Well, if this is where they came to drink then they must have come from somewhere nearby."

Indiana's thoughts began to soared at the idea of finding the homes of the organisms. he quickly ventured forward toward the next opening. As he made his way toward the tunnel, his heart began to pound. He kept going and…

"Indy?" Sallah asked.

"Indiana?" Marcus asked.

"Not again" Dad complained.


	6. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Months before Indiana Jones even decided to go to space, he was continuing his job at Marshall College in Connecticut. His days there had gotten slow. His rival archaeologists out in the field always managed to get in the way, and it had been some time since he had come home with his prize. His interest in going out to the field had begun to wither.

It was on a sunny day toward the end of second semester when news broke about the found ruins on Mars. Archaeologists all over the world, including Indiana, were ecstatic. All of them wanted the chance to go and be the one to discover the history behind the ruin.

When NASA called Indiana about the ruins and if he was interested in going, he leaped at the chance. Of course, NASA had to warn him about all the risks, and tell him that it would be 4 years before he even landed on Mars. Indiana didn't care. This was something no one could steal from him.

A day before he was supposed to go to the training facility, Indian decided to have dinner with his father. Though he didn't expect much, he arrived with a positive attitude. To his surprise, he saw that Sallah and Marcus were there. Indiana didn't know what to expect.

"We're here to… ask you to not go to Mars, Indiana" Marcus said.

"Wha-what? Why?"

"Because… look, we know you are a capable archaeologist, but… well there you go. You're a digger, not an astronaut" Sallah said.

"Son, we care for you. What you are going to face is not an army of deadly Germans or back-stabbing Russians. Its space. It's something that's possibly more dangerous than man" Dad said.

Indiana stood thunderstruck. "Look… I appreciate that you guys care about me, but this is my choice. I'm going. can you think of anyone else who can do a better job than me?"

They stood in silence.

"I'll be fine. Plenty of other people have made this trip before and come back fine. And I'll have 4 years to train for this. I won't do anything stupid."

The others looked at each other.

"Well, you've made your decision. Let's eat" Dad said.

The others stood up slowly. Indiana stayed for a minute or so. They had a point. Space was far more dangerous than anything he had gone up against, but this was something he had to do.


	7. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Indiana Jones began to stir. His body ached all over. "How many times can a guy get knocked out in a day?" he asked aloud.

"You'd better be careful Indiana" Marcus answered. "You've been getting very lucky so far. One of these times,God forbid, you're luck will run out."

Indiana slowly stood up."I fell through a hidden hole. The sand must have been hard enough to conceal it. Despite how mobile this suit is, it still isn't easy to see everything."

"Excuses, excuses…" Dad muttered.

Indiana looked around him. He had taken quite a fall. It was very dark. He noticed that his flashlight had gone off. He turned it on, and was blown away.

"I'm… I'm in a… giant stone hall. The… the pillars are at least 100 feet tall. I guess I fell down the stairway."

He continued to move around. He approached the pillars. He touched them carefully, then examined.

"No markings that look like any actual written messages. Just designs on the pillars."

"Material?" Sallah asked.

"Martian rock. Don't worry Sallah,I'm bound to find some kind of other rock here."

Indiana continued to look around. The hall was massive in the other direction. An exit was nearby. As Indiana began to head towards it, he didn't notice another loose pile of sand. He stepped on it, and as soon as he felt the ground go down, he knew he was in for trouble.

The entire area began to rumble, and soon giant boulders began to roll from hidden areas on the ceiling. The exit was soon covered with boulders, and Indiana was forced to make a retreat back to the other side of the hall. Moments later the rumbling stopped, and as the smoke cleared, Indiana saw that he was stuck, about 100 meters away from the exit, with massive boulders covering his path.

"Oh, great."

"Are the pillars still intact?" Dad asked.

"Uhh… yeah…"

"Well, I guess that's the important thing."

"Thanks, Dad."


	8. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Indiana Jones had put himself in a tight spot. After causing a trap to release massive boulders onto the stone hall, he had blocked his exit. Hope was not lost however. He still had radio contact, and he had enough tools to get him out of his mess.

"The problem is time" Indiana said to his crew."My pick-axe, which was specially designed by NASA, can cut through a single bolder pretty easy. The problem is, I have about 30 of them blocking my path. I need to go through them one by one, top to bottom. They're all just too big to move."

"Well, I guess there's nothing to do but start swinging away" sallah said.

""Do you have an estimated time on how long this will take, Indiana?" Marcus asked.

"Well, one boulder could take me 10 minutes. Times 30, and that adds to 300 minutes, or a solid 5 hours. Maybe shorter because I'm not trying to turn these boulders to dust. Just something I can move."

"Well, then you'd best get started, Indiana" Marcus replied.

Despite knowing the hard labor that awaited him, Indiana began the difficult job of removing all the boulders one at a time.

Hours passed, and at last he reached the last boulder. With the last of his strength, he swung at the last boulder, until it finally broke apart into smaller pieces. At last, the path was clear, but Indiana collapsed in exhaustion, and decided to rest for some time.


	9. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"After a lot of work, Indiana Jones decided his break was over. He had been leaning on the exit to the great stone hall for several minutes, and finally regained his strength. He opened the door, and entered at last.

Indiana couldn't believe his eyes. As far as the eye could see-

"It's a whole freakin' village!"

"WHAT?"

"A village, all underground. It looks like… Cairo. These guys have a thing for making all their things from stone. It looks like it's all carved from the cave."

"How big is the village?" Dad asked.

"About 2 miles. This whole place is like a giant circle. I'm going to head down, see what I can find."

Indiana made his way down, and noticed that the size of the buildings were quite large. He also noticed that the closer they were to the center, the taller they would become. Indiana approached the smallest building he saw. He opened the door and saw what looked like a very small home. It reminded him of his time in Japan. Small and simple.

He moved on to a larger house. It looked more like a typical American home, with a staircase that lead to a second floor. He followed, and saw several different rooms. Still nothing he could properly examined.

Knowing he couldn't check all the houses, Indiana picked ones that looked more interesting than others. Every time, he found nothing he could examine. His frustration began to build.

Finally he got to the largest building. It appeared to be 5 stories tall. He entered the large doorway, and saw a large, empty space filled with supporting pillars and a stairway. He followed the stairway. He passed by the second floor. Nothing. The third. Nothing. The fourth. Nothing. Finally, with his frustration reaching its peak, Indiana stepped foot inside the fifth floor. Finally, something was there waiting for him.


	10. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"Oh, my God" Indiana whispered.

"What, what?"

"It's… an astronomy room. There are paintings of the entire solar system on the floor. . There's no ceiling. I can see the entire top of the cave…"

"What's wrong, Indy?" Sallah asked.

"I get it. This place was never below ground. It was some kind of valley. What I thought was the top of the cave is actually… I guess mountains, that collapsed and hit each other, completely covering the village. Right above me where the rover is is actually the top of the mountains, completely covered in sand. It's a miracle none of this is completely squashed."

"I take it that there's no chance of removing the mountains so the village can be visible from here on Earth?" Marcus said.

"Not unless you want to risk giving this place a makeover."

"Hmm, that really is a shame. You best be sure you're recording, Indiana."

"Will do, Marcus."

"Junior, How is the map on the floor?" Dad asked."Is it accurate?"

"Well, I'm no astronomer, but all the planets are here, even Pluto. Question is how did they discover all this, maybe thousands of years, before man?"

"You're sure there is nothing there, Indy?" Sallah asked.

"Positive. Perhaps, after the mountains crashed they all left. Problem is, there are no notable craters or valleys here on Mars that show more signs of architecture. I need to keep looking."


	11. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Indiana Jones had just made the discovery of his career. Nobody else can say they've discovered ruins on another planet. Well, maybe the astronauts who discovered the first bits of ruin. But he had discovered an entire village hidden underneath the sand. Nothing could steal his glory-

"Indiana, is there a quick way out of there?" Marcus asked.

"What? Why?"

"There's something strange going on. I can't tell what it is on the radar. O, rather, I don't want it to be what I think it is."

"Um, I think I can only go back the way I came."

"Hurry, Indy. This isn't going to be good" Sallah said.

Indiana hurried to the surface. He was slightly annoyed by the interruption, but whatever it was that they were seeing, it must have been serious.

Indiana finally made it to the surface and looked at in every direction.

"Ok, so what am I looking at?"

"Not at the ground, Junior, the sky. Use the zoom on your helmets camera. Aim towards the sun" Dad said.

Indiana did as he was told. Looking closely, he noticed something. It was very small, but it couldn't be…

"Oh, shit."

A rocket was headed towards the surface.

"Who the hell is that? My rescue mission isn't supposed to be for a LONG time, if I remember."

"I'm looking at the rocket through the satellites now, Indiana" Marcus said."I'm looking for a name… ah there it its. The _fliegenden Sterne_."

"Oh, no. No, no, no, no, NO!"

"What, what does that mean?" Marcus and Sallah asked.

"It's German. It means flying star."

Marcus and Sallah looked at each other in shock.

"Oh, dear."

"Great, just great! I guess I'm not alone anymore! These damn Germans have done it again!"

"How did they even get past international security?" Dad asked. "Did no one notice them take off?"

"Must have been in a remote location" Sallah said. "And it appears they have a way of messing with satellites. Indy can you hear us?"

"You're fading, Sallah, speak up!"

"Junior, whatever you do be very careful. These Germans - equipped- ready-no-prize-themselves-"

"Dad? Dad?!"

Indiana had just lost signal. He knew that unless he reached the rocket and stopped the jam at its source, he wouldn't be able to talk again with Earth, no matter how hard he tried.

"Just my luck."


	12. Chapter 18

Chapter 18- Sol 43-10 (Audio Log)

"So… here I am, on Mars. No communication again. But hey, at least I'm not alone. I have _Germans_ to keep me company. I guess I understand what's going on. Long before I left Earth, the Germans were dealing with a rebellion, and the rebels were a kind of neo-Fascist party. And they had some top people in their ranks. Like, crazy rich guys. Rich enough that if they pooled their resources they could build an entire fleet of spaceships. The one they came in is bigger than the one I did. There must be 30 guys in there instead of the 6 I came with. I'm heavily outnumbered."

"The party's leader, Amon Heinrich, is supposedly obsessed with relics. After hearing about the discovery here on Mars, he probably ordered the construction of the ship right away. I was all over the news when NASA decided to send me here, so his jealousy must have skyrocketed. No way was he letting America get the prize again. Question is, what was he planning to do with me and my fellow astronauts? Wait- scratch that, we should have left by now. Though we weren't going to take much. They probably want more than we could ever dream of taking back. But now, I'm still here, so I present a major problem. My guess is they'll kill, me. They don't care about how the press sees them."

"Well, I'm gonna have to figure out a plan. They've landed. Get ready for Uncle Sam, assholes."


	13. Chapter 19

Chapter 19- Sol 43-11 (Audio Log)

"Ok, I'm about a mile away from the ship. They won't see me. In case I found a source of life here on Mars, my suit has a camouflage feature as well as hiding my body heat, so infrared won't work. Ok, hatch is opening. Damn, this zoom on the helmet is good. And… 1, 5, 10, 20, 35. 35 pricks. With guns. Great. My whip will only work so much. I'm pretty far from the dig site, but the rover will give me away. They know I'm here, so this is a scary game of hide and seek."

The German soldiers began to walk in a line. At the front were two men with a higher ranking than the others.

"A captain and a colonel. Guess all their generals are busy planning their next terrorist attack. The rest are lackeys. Though probably… very capable. No other heavy machinery. I think the only way to get myself back on track is to get inside that ship. I'm going to wait until they head down the site. They won't be able to see me. Idiots, they left the door open."

…

"Heading there now, kind of weird getting there walking. Ok, here. Wow, it's clean. Really white and glossy. It's like frickin' Star Wars in here. Ok, find the source of the jamming signal. Probably in the control room. Um, should be upstairs."

"Ok, here at the panel, and… its in German. FUCK! Uh, should I just trash it? No… this could be my way out of here. Yeah… what if I just leave now? Ditch them, and they die a horrible, slow death. Ok, well, now I just need to figure out how to _launch_! Come on, can't be hard. Um, does my helmet have some kind of translator…?"

As Indiana Jones began searching the features of his helmet, he didn't notice a man walking up behind him. The man, with his helmet removed, grabbed him from behind and got him in a headlock. He threw himself down, causing Indiana to fall. At that moment, several more unmasked Germans entered the room and held Indiana down. They punched and kicked him until, he could no longer resist.


	14. Chapter 20

Chapter 20- Sol 44

They dragged Indiana Jones down to the supply room. Indiana, exhausted and beat up, was thrown onto a chair and tied up. He looked up, The Germans had not removed their suits, only their helmets. They were all bigger than he was. He counted 10. He knew there were 26 more. Probably their leader was on his way. After a few minutes, the colonel and general arrived, helmets still on. The general removed his. He was blond with a very square jaw. The colonel continued to stare down at Indiana. Indiana stared back.

"So you gonna tell me who you are or are you still checking me out?"

The man began to laugh. "Oh, Jones, even on Mars you have no manners." He began to remove his helmet. When he finally did, Indiana was shocked.

"No…"

It was Rene Belloq, his oldest rival. A tall, rather thin Frenchmen, he was more of a hired gun, willing to search all over the world for rare artifacts to the highest bidder. Usually though, he just let Indiana do the hard work and then steal the prize from under his nose.

"So… how much you getting paid for this steal?"

"More than enough. Amon Heinrich wants whatever we can find. He believes that the lifeforms on Mars are the smartest to have ever lived. He wants their knowledge to take over Germany, then-"

"The world, yeah yeah. This guy sounds like a cheap action movie villain."

"Oh, he's far from cheap, Indiana. If only you were like me, you might have been able to retire early."

"I can't stand the thought of you taking a priceless artifact and handing it to the richest bastard willing to pay you."

"And that is why you and I will always fight. Now, these gentlemen have had nothing to do on the long flight here. They need a new way to entertain themselves. Have fun, gentlemen."


	15. Chapter 21

Chapter 21- Sol 45

The German threw his last punch. Indiana Jones could do nothing but take it all. The Germans than let him fall to the ground. As they left, Indiana slowly looked up, and saw Belloq standing there.

"You here to pound on me too?"

"I don't like violence, Jones. At least not without reason. You know that."

"Well, if you're not here to beat the shit out of me like your friends the get out. Let me bleed internally."

"I told them to take it easy on you. And if you can't tell, they did. That was our way of keeping you under control. Do anything out of line, and we'll kill you."

"Why not kill me now? I'm a nuisance to all of you anyway."

"Because for once, Jones, you are a leading expert in something. You are the only person to have entered that site. you know more about it than anyone."

Indiana burst laughing. "I think you overestimate my knowledge on Martian lifeforms."

Belloq appeared annoyed. "Jones, this is no laughing matter. This is our chance. Forget the Germans, we can take all the credit. Whatever lived here must have been as unique a species unlike anything the world has ever seen. Possibly with great power. We can take it for our own. We could rule the world. Join me"

Indiana looked at him in disgust. "Just take me to the damn site"

Belloq smiled."All in good time, Jones. You are tired. Sleep, and we will go tomorrow."


	16. Chapter 22

Chapter 22- Sol 46

Indiana Jones was rudely awakened early the next morning. Still feeling the pain of his beating, he slowly put on his gear. When he was ready, he was escorted down to the main lobby of the ship. Every German there was carrying some kind of equipment. Digging materials, explosives, there was no limit to the expedition. Belloq stood in the middle.

"Well, Jones, since you've been to the site and have some knowledge of its contents, you will lead. It's not like you can run anywhere in your condition, or location."

The Germans chuckled. Indiana headed to the front, put on his helmet, and walked toward the airlock. The door opened, and he led the giant line of Germans back to the site.

Indiana kept walking in a straight line, with his head down. He felt a great amount of shame. He felt as though he had failed so many people. Marcus, Sallah, his dad, NASA, the world. He was leading the world's most evil organization to a site that should be studied for passion, not a goose chase for some mystical power that might not even exist.

"Do not be afraid to talk, Jones" Belloq said. "We had your helmet modified so you can communicate with us. and yes, there is a German translator in your helmet."

"Go to hell, Belloq."

They continued to walk, until at last they reached the entrance to the site. With a huge effort, Indiana began to lead them down.


	17. Chapter 23

Chapter 23- Sol 46

Indiana Jones led the Germans and Belloq down the ruins. They first passed by the Aztec-like ruins. Even with their visors down down Indiana could tell they all looked in awe. Belloq went closely to the giant carved stones and examined them with with hand.

"How eerily similar to the Aztecs, huh, Jones?"

Indiana didn't answer. He kept walking to the hole that led him underground. A bigger German blocked his path.

:Don't be hasty, Jones" Belloq said. "We're in this together, whether you like it or not. In fact, you're our guide. Give us a tour."

Indiana said nothing for a while. Then he spoke. "Whatever lived here is not on the surface. There is an entire city below us. What we are standing on used to a mountain that completely covered what was below. What's really interesting is down below."

Belloq stared for a while. Then he said "Lead the way."

Indiana went around the German and stopped before the hole.

"We go down this way."

Indiana slowly bent down and stuck his legs in the hole. He slid down and slowly arrived at the bottom. He He stood and backed away and waited while the rest of the Germans slid down as well. When the last one arrived, Indiana continued to walk. He saw what remained of the lake, and his heart sank a little more. Belloq noticed Indiana's lowered head.

"Did you do this, Jones?"

Indiana didn't answer.

"Well, this must have been a site when it wasn't a complete mess. Though I'm used to seeing you destroy beautiful things. Well, let's keep moving."

Indiana started walking around the lake. It was a very long and depressing walk. They arrived at the bar, they went down the hole to the giant stone hall. Here the Germans had to break several boulders blocking their path. At last, when the final boulder was destroyed, they walked through the door and saw the giant underground village. As the Germans looked in awe, Indiana continued to walk at a slow pace.


	18. Chapter 24

Chapter 24- Sol 46

Indiana Jones continued to lead the Germans through the town. He passed by all the buildings and continued to head toward the tallest one. Belloq was confused.

"Why are you passing all the buildings, Jones?"

"I checked most of them already. Only the one in the middle had something interesting."

"Well, I feel you might've missed something. All of you, split into pairs. I'll go with Jones. Check as many buildings as you can."

The Germans began to spread out. Soon it was only Indiana and Belloq walking to the center of the town.

"And what is it we are going to, Jones?" Belloq asked.

"To the tallest building there. There's a map of the entire galaxy."

"The whole galaxy? But.. how? With what technology?"

"That's what we're going to find out."

They finally reached the building. They climbed to the top and saw the giant paintings spread across the room. Belloq couldn't stop spinning everywhere, trying to take it all in.

"It's amazing… it's beautiful. But, how did they accomplish something like this?"

"Well, before these mountains collapsed on this valley, they had a good view of the sky. Still doesn't explain how they managed to do this though."

"Sir, do you read?" a German radioed.

"Speak" Belloq said.

"We've found… something."

"What?!"

"Well, you and Jones should see this yourselves. It's more your specialty."

"On our way. Come Jones. Let's see if they found a piece to this puzzle."


	19. Chapter 25

Chapter 25- Sol 46

Indiana Jones and Belloq headed down the tallest building in the Martian town. They raced to the location of the Germans, who were at a corner of town Indiana hadn't been to. When Indiana and Belloq arrived, the Germans moved out of the way and revealed…

"A graveyard?" Indiana asked.

For several hundred feet, all Indiana could see were mounds of dirt with a block of stone over them. He examined one of the stones closer. He couldn't make out the odd squiggles.

"Only one thing to do" Belloq said. He grabbed a shovel from one of the Germans. Indiana stepped in front of him.

"N-" he started, but stopped. He knew nothing of this place, and knew that here was their chance to see what kind of lifeforms had lived here. He slowly backed away from Belloq. At least he knew how to dig, unlike some of the brutes he saw around him.

Belloq plunged the shovel into the dirt, and carefully began to dig further. After a few minutes, he hit something. He removed the dirt and and saw some kind of shell. It appeared to be the size of a teenager. Something was curled up in there.

"Acid!" Belloq yelled.

A German gave Belloq a bottle. Belloq slowly poured it. The acid simply lay at the top of the shell. Belloq poured more but it did no further damage,  
"Come on!" Belloq screamed in frustration.

CRACK!

Indiana, Belloq and the others were thrown backwards by a sudden force ejected from the shell. Indiana quickly looked up and saw a giant cloud of smoke surrounding the thin figure.

"SHOOT, SHOOT!" Belloq and the Germans screamed.

"NO!" Indiana yelled.

Multiple gunfire rang out, but the bullets simply bounced back. It hit several of the Germans. Indiana picked up one of the weapons and began firing at the Germans. In all the chaos no one noticed. Soon a handful of Germans and Belloq remained.


	20. Chapter 26

Chapter 26- Sol 46

In a shocking moment, Belloq was able to find a shell in the Martian graveyard. As he tried to open it by force, whatever was in it opened itself in a mini explosion. The Germans panicked and tried to shoot it down. Now Indiana Jones was all that stood between the death of the life-form and its survival from the gunfire.

As the Germans quickly realized they couldn't stop the life-form, they began to abandon their guns and run towards the exit. Before that however, they began loading their rocket launchers.

"No, no, NO!" Indiana screamed into his radio. He fired several shots to the Germans who gave accidentally launched a rocket. It hit the top of the cave and started a small cave-in. The Germans were quickly crushed. Belloq gave up all attempts to see the life-form and ran as well. Indiana began to run, but with one last look, he saw green eyes staring through the mist. With a loud roar, the life form began to curl up and shrivel. It appeared to have died.

Indiana had managed to get the lead on Belloq. Suddenly, Indiana heard a shot and was brought to his knees. He turned and saw Belloq with his gun. He had pierced Indiana's lower right calf. Indiana's suit quickly sealed off the loss of pressure.

"Well Jones, this certainly was a grand adventure! But I'm afraid only one of us deserves to tell the tale!"

Belloq began rushing to the surface. Indiana, with great pain, followed him. He used Belloq's tracks to follow him to the surface. When he finally made it, he saw Belloq preparing several grenades and rocket launchers.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"If I can't have it. no one will!"

With his last remaining strength, Indiana charged at Belloq. He brought him to the ground and they began to wrestle in the Martian dirt. After a long struggle, Indiana was kicked off from Belloq. Belloq made his way to the explosives. Quickly, Indiana pulled out his whip and swung towards Belloq. Belloq fell and appeared to have cracked his helmet on a rock. The alarm in his helmet began to blare. Indiana slowly got up and walked toward him. Belloq was squirming around trying to find a way to cover the crack. Belloq looked pleadingly at Indiana's eyes.

"Spare me, Jones? I'll be your prisoner all the way back to Earth."

Indiana stared at Belloq with a cold look in his eye.

"You're not worth taking back to Earth."

Indiana slowly began to walk away.

"Jones?! Jones no! NO! N-"

Indiana cut the feed from his helmet. He had had enough of Belloq's screams.


	21. Chapter 27

Chapter 27- Sol 48

Indiana Jones had finally defeated the Germans. Belloq was dead. The site was no longer in danger. He limped back to his rover that he had left behind when the Germans first arrived. Once inside, he removed his suit and patched his injuries. He began the slow drive back to the Hab. When he finally made it, he entered the Hab and collected all his supplies. When he had everything packed in his river (including his hat) he drove back to the area where the Germans had landed.

When he arrived, he parked the rover several hundred feet away and carried his box of supplies with him. He entered the ship and headed to the controls. He activated the German translator that the Germans had installed and began flipping switches. The ship began to rumble. All the systems were online and stable. He pressed the launch button and the ship began to move upward. The power was enormous. The ship had been built well. As Indiana guided the ship carefully away from Mars, he looked away from the controls and looked out the window. He saw the endless Martian desert, and as he rose higher, he couldn't help but feel a little sad. He had no intention of coming back, despite the unknown possibilities of discovery. But, he had had enough of space for a lifetime. Besides, earth had enough mysteries of its own.

…

Log Entry- Sol 49 (Audio Log)

"Well, here I am, writing log entries. I've had a… busy time on Mars. Exploring an unknown civilization, bumping into a few assholes, killing a few assholes. But, I'm back. Or… I'm going back."

Indiana stopped talking and looked outside the window. He saw the endless darkness of space.

"I'm actually heading back."

Indiana closed his entry and started heading to his bed. He'd survived another adventure. He had earned his sleep.


End file.
